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Sunday, March 27, 2011

Sweet Vidalia Onion Salad Dressing

One Perfect Bite was featured in the Sunday Brunch Segment of Amuse Bouche, the blog associated with the magazine Where Women Cook. It you're interested, the feature can be seen here.

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I'm fairly even tempered and it takes a lot to move me from cold to hot. That's not to say I don't have a pet peeve or two, and, as it happened, a couple of them surfaced today. One is the accumulation of unfinished cereal sitting in boxes that are only fractionally full. That happens a lot around here because each member of my family has a favorite all their own. That favorite is generally unfinished at the end of a visit, so, to my great shame, you'll occasionally find Cocoa Puffs or Fruit Loops floating in my cereal bowl. Generally, the assortment stales before I can work my way through it and I'm left feeling guilty because I have to throw it away. That happened this morning. Another peeve surfaced this evening while the table was being set for dinner. I think we all have a vision of what we consider to be gracious living. Mine does not include a collection of jars and bottles sitting in the center of the dinner table. In my dream world, salads are tossed in the kitchen and graciously served from a bowl at the table. The Silver Fox doesn't share my vision. So, it happens that an assortment of condiments and dressings got to claim space at my table tonight. Among them was the Vidalia onion dressing I used to make peanut sauce earlier in the week. One of the advantages to making your own condiments and dressing is that you can control the amount you make by sizing the recipe for them up or down. I normally make half the recipe because that's sufficient for our needs. While I make this to use in peanut sauce, it's also wonderful on bitter greens and fresh fruit, so I have plenty of opportunities to use it and it will not go to waste. The dressing is embarrassingly easy to make, but I do have one serious caution. The Vidalia is a sweet onion. While other sweet onions can be used to make this, don't make the mistake of thinking all white onions are sweet. Ask the produce manager if you are not sure. If you make this with anything other than sweet onions it will be dreadful and you'll speak of me using adjectives I'd prefer you not. REMEMBER SWEET ONIONS. Here's the recipe.

Directions:1) Slice 1/2 inch off both ends of onion. Pierce onion skin in several places with a sharp knife. Place onion in microwave-proof bowl. Add a tablespoon of water and microwave, covered, on HIGH power until soft, about 3 to 4 minutes. Set aside to cool.2) When cooled, peel and place in food processor. Puree until smooth. Add oil, vinegar, sugar, mustard, garlic powder, celery seed, salt and pepper and process until smooth. Chill. Yield: 1-1/2 cups.

Thanks for the recipe, Mary. I promise only to use Vidalia onions and praise your name. I'm with you on the bottles/jars/boxes, etc. on the dining table...guys have respectfully tried to follow the lead but when I am gone, I hear tell that chaos reigns as far as this goes. Absolute chaos! lol

Mary, I really like this on multiple levels. It's a good-looking dressing to begin with, seems easy to make, and inspirational in that dressings in general seem to be an area we don't see explored very often. Thanks for posting this!

Looks good. We always make our own salad dressing and we always dress it in the kitchen as well. I'm not much for bottles and jars in the middle of my dining room table either. I've been known to even decant ketchup when we have company!

This sound slike a good dressing and I'm eagerly awaiting vidalia onion season!

YOu spoke my inner feelings about condiment bottles on the table! Isn't it funny that somehting like that would make us a little crazy?But then I looked at your beautiful pictures and had second thoughts. I LOVE the containers you chose for your dressing... they might look very nice on my table.Thanks for the recipe. I mostly use homemade dressings but have never made Vidaila. I can't wait to try it!And a BIG thank you for adding all the other dressings as well!Yvonne

Thank you SO much for this recipe! This week a friend & I were talking about the huge bottles of Vidalia onion dressing they used to have at Sam's. Since I owned a restaurant at the time there was no problem with spoilage. But now a smaller quantity is preferable. Can't wait to try this one.

Oh my goodness, this sounds like one of those dressings that is going to make me build entire meals around the flavor profile of the zesty vinegar coupled with the sweet onion. Are there any lettuces that work better than others with this dressing?

Making my own dressings and vinaigrettes is a goal of mine and this looks like a tasty recipe to start with, you have a beautiful blog. Daily recipes would really be a challenge, I am impressed, and you can be sure that I will be back.

I have never heard of Sweet Vidalia Onion! This is really interesting and I'm ever so curious! But I don't think that I can get it over here. Would love to try this someday, maybe could replace with other varieties of sweet onions. Have a lovely week.

As an Army brat and career officer myself, I've lived in about half of the US. And I swear, the most expensive Vidalias are in Georgia. Cheaper to drive to Florida or South Carolina and buy them! No idea why!

I completely empathize...our dining table is a catching place for all things and I've mostly given up. This dressing sounds amazing. I haven't seen any vidalia's since I've moved to the southwest, but I need to keep my eye out for them.

The bottled version was my in-laws favorite, buy I didn't care for it or 99% of the others from a bottle. I wish they were still around so I could make this version for them, but it sounds so good, I may try it for myself.

I share those pet peeves, Mary. I have a few cereal boxes in my cupboard right now with just a small amount of cereal left in them. I also like to have lovely vessels to serve condiments in, but those canning jars are just perfect to mix a dressing in that it seems okay to use it as the serving container, don't you think? I am looking forward to trying your dressing recipe as I really love Vidalia onions.

Congradulations, what an honor!!! I only know what an amuse bouche is from watching Top Chef! I knew this knowledge would come in handy some day. They posted lots of good variety from your blog, too!! I left a comment there, how exciting!! You really deserve it, too. But now, look out! This could get you hundreds of new followers!!

Thankyou for this recipe Mary....I love Vidalia dressing, but have never made my own -now I can.You are right to caution against using any other onions in this dressing as vidalias have a much sweeter flavor. We love them!Have a womderful day.

That is wonderful your blog is being featured!! :) I adore Vidalia onions and I have never made my own dressing using them. I am so happy to see it does not involve a lot of ingredients. I love that you make a lot of your own condiments! Have a peaceful Sunday!

I love making my own salad dressing- I like making just enough for us to use in a short time because I don't like having lots of bottles cluttering up the refrigerator. This Vidalia onion dressing looks delicious. :) When my kids were little and we'd have several different boxes open at a time (and thus the little bits left in the bottom) I'd mix it together and call it cereal salad. :)

Congratulations on your feature, Mary! It is well deserved. I love that you've posted a recipe for Sweet Vidalia Onion dressing. It is one of my favorites. Making my own salad dressing is something that I've been doing quite often lately. I never thought about using that dressing on fruit though. I will have to give that a try. Thanks for sharing your recipe! Have a great week!

Contests on being featured! This recipe sounds delicious and I can't wait to try it. I grow so much lettuce in the summer andI go through a LOT of salad dressing. How fun to find a new way to dress my salads!

Help me, Mary. I make all my own dressings and can't wait to try yours. Alas, I do not own or use a microwave. What do you suggest for heating the onion? Steam it? or could I wrap in foil and heat in the oven?

I fell in love with Oak Hill Vidalia Onion dressing and needed to recreate a homemade version. I made your recipe first and it blew me away! I did alter it though, I don't believe in microwaves so I sauteed my onion and added a thick round of onion and blended in my Vita-mix. It chilled in the fridge for a couple of hours and boy oh boy! Thanks so much for the recipe, I look forward to trying more of your creations! G. Renee'

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